Wednesday, December 31, 2008

After being warned by multiple people not to wait until the last second to get our marriage license we decided to run by the Courthouse the Tuesday before Christmas. I didn't think that it would be a huge ordeal and I have to say that the city of Decatur made it quite easy. We had been to visit Deaner's grandparents that weekend in Virginia and we were each given a crisp twenty dollar bill for Christmas. Typically we would have thrown the cash in our "kitty" (which is really a giant plastic Ole Miss beer bottle) and saved it for our next vacation, however, it dawned on me while we were driving home that Deaner's grandparents have been married for more than 60 years. That is longer than some people live! So what better way to spend our $40 than on our marriage license! What a great blessing to have our marriage license given to us by two people who have been married for 62 years. If Deaner and I live to be married for 62 years he will be 94 years old and I will be 90. It's a long shot but we will see!

The point of this post is to share a tidbit that gave me a pretty good laugh. I am still mad at myself that I didn't have a camera with me but apparently some others before me thought it crazy enough to capture for themselves and I didn't have any trouble finding a photo online. The room where couples obtain their marriage license just so happens to be housed in the same room where one can obtain a pistol license. WHAT? Does anyone else think this is odd? Is this only in the Decatur, GA courthouse or has anyone see this anywhere else? I wonder if anyone has actually gone and gotten a marriage license AT THE SAME TIME that they picked up a pistol license? The innuendo is hilarious. That is definitely some one stop shopping! A person can marry their spouse (legally) and shoot them (well the gun would be legal) all with a visit to room B190! Deaner thought that it was hilarious to repeatedly tell me that he might pick up a pistol license, just in case. I am sure that the people working in that office haven't heard that one before! It's really too bad that we only had $11 leftover after paying for our marriage license and the pistol license was $42.25. Darn!

All and all the sign made for a humorous experience. I am sure that it will continue to draw chuckles for as long as both of those licenses' can be obtained in the same room. I recommend bringing a camera if you are ever heading in this direction.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

I consider myself a pretty avid reader among other things. I doubt that I am alone in confessing my love for Ann M. Martin and the Babysitter Club Series or Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley Twins when I was growing up. Does anyone else remember the Scholastic Club Book flimsy little catalog (if you do remember, I know you are thinking that this was hardly a catalog) that came home with students once a month from school from which you could order books? I certainly do. Practically every month there was a new Babysitter Club book that I was DYING to have. How did Ann M. Martin write so quickly?? And a better question, why would my mom only let me have ONE A MONTH?? It isn't like they broke the bank at a whopping $4.95! If only good books came at a price like that these days! Looking back on my mom's reluctance to indulge me constantly with books that I finished in a matter of 24 hours, I am starting to realize that it might have had less to do with bank rolling books #1 thru #4298 and more to do with encouraging a broader horizon and refining my taste in literature. HA! I am not sure what exactly counted as "literature" when I was ten years old but we weren't allowed to check out Judy Blume books in my school library until 6th, 7th, and 8th grade due to the inappropriate content. While I willingly read books that were not part of numbered series and had many many favorites (Wayside School Is Falling Down) I have never been able to shake the habit of a good pastel colored book.

Before I go more into detail about my poor reading habits I do feel like it is worth mentioning that I was an English major in college. So I have, in fact, actually read plenty of what would be considered "real literature". I know it exists, I just choose not to read it anymore. I hope that my friend Laura eventually reads this post because I am about to place some of the blame for this on her. Laura was my English teacher in high school and we have remained friends for the past 13 years now. I used to rely on her as my previewer/critic for 90% of my leisure reading, post college. She would read the book and pass it on to me if it was worth reading. It worked well for both of us (well, I'm not sure how much she benefited from it) as we both read quickly and in great quantities. Easy enough, right? WRONG. I would blame her children if I didn't love them so much but after her 2nd beautiful boy was born, her free time to read went out the window. Without the higher quality books being placed before me at our weekly lunches, what was I left to do?

I should have known it was bad when early in our relationship Deaner made the comment that the only books I ever read were pink. I couldn't even deny it. Everything I own has a pastel cover but my bookcases are so colorful and beautiful! Deaner could drop by Barnes and Noble to pick something up for himself and pick out ANY book for me as long as the color was right. I have read hundreds of them. I even started a book last year and didn't realize I had already read it (the cover WAS different) until about 35 pages into it. The first time I met Deaner's father and step-mother we were taking a vacation to Las Vegas. I can't believe I am going to admit this but I was reading a book called 32AA and the cover was pink with a bra strap across the cover. I made very sure to tell him not to mention my book in front of his family because it was embarrassing, even to me. So what does he do? Ten minutes after sitting down in the Crown Room Deaner pulls my book out of our carry on and announces that it was the book I was currently reading. I was mortified. What didn't he understand about "don't show your family my book"? I feel certain his step-mother still recalls it vividly. The fight that followed is irrelevant to this particular post! :)

SO....here I am admitting my addiction. I am pretty much past the point of hiding it. Pastel color books are books too and they deserve to be read! I am sad that they will have to go to storage when I move to Germany! Maybe by time I come home I can just start over at the beginning........until then, I am ALWAYS looking for suggestions!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

I am starting to have more than just second thoughts on this whole move out of the country. I have been to Germany multiple times and have always felt like Germans have been some of the more friendly Europeans that I have encountered. One of the most popular gifts this Christmas for Deaner and myself was to buy us books about Germany. We are now the proud owners of no fewer than 7 books on every German subject known to man. Don't get me wrong, we are both very grateful to have a wealth of knowledge at our finger tips, but I am getting nervous after reading a selection from "When in Germany, Do As The Germans Do". I have only read one page from this book and thought I would share some pointers from the "Rules for Dealing with Germans" section. There seems to be only 6 small things that I should keep in mind as I venture on towards my new life abroad.

2. Germans and Americans do not think and act alike in social and business situations -- especially in first encounters. Get over the myth that "we're all basically alike". It sounds good, but this mind-set is counterproductive.

3. Germans tend to be blunt, frank, and--to Anglo-American eyes--tactless in certain situations. They tend to correct you when you don't want to be corrected. (great, I won't be nervous a bit!)

4. Germans aren't into "idle chatter." (note to self, do not share blogspot) They don't really care if you "have a nice day" and consider the saying a symbol of American superficiality. They don't want to talk about (a) their jobs (b) their kids or family, or (c) the weather with a stranger.

5. Germans have been known to smile, but unnecessary smiling is frowned upon. A German needs a good reason to smile. In fact, excessive smiling for most Europeans is an indication of weak mindedness. Don't overdo smiling around Germans. At heart, Germans are pessimists, and they enjoy their pessimism. Don't deprive them of that pleasure. Never try and tell a joke. It takes years to delve into the German sense of humor.

6. Learn to accept all these rules. Learn to adjust to Germans, don't expect them to adjust to you.

The endnote to these rules reads "There are a few Germans who don't fit the preceding rules, but all six of them are now living in the United States and Canada." Nice. Just makes me so excited to transplant myself to this country! My personal favorite is rule #5. I will really have to get all my excessive smiling under control! :) Oops.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

One of the best gifts my father ever gave me. Written by him back when I was in 5th grade. I remember every bit of it. Especially how ticked he was when he took my mom back the next night!

By Fred Gleaton:

"Last night I had one of those sorts of experiences that every person imagines having when they are trying convince themselves to step into the realm of parenthood. After two-thirds of my life, about ten last place finishes, two playoff flameouts, and eleven years of diaper changing, back patting, butt spanking, and school tuition, I took Sarah Gleaton to the first world series game ever played in Atlanta. Maybe the Braves were just waiting all these years for me to have such a special World Series date.

Twenty-five years ago my father brought me up from south Georgia for the first major league baseball game I ever saw. I was 14 and my father was 49. It was the first major league game he ever saw, too. I remember just about everything about it. We came up on a Friday night so that my sister and mother could shop for my sister's wedding dress. The women headed for Rich's at the earliest hour of merchandising. My father and I say in in our room at the Holiday Inn on Monroe Drive all Saturday morning watching it rain and thinking that we would never get to see our game. The rain stopped about lunchtime, and the rest is history of sort.

It was the Chicago Cubs: Ernie Banks, Glenn Beckert, Don Kessinger, and Ron Santo in the infield, with Randy Hundley behind the plate. Billy Williams and George Altman played in the outfield. I don't remember who started the game or who played third outfield spot for the Cubs, but I remember every Brave: Rico Carty, Mack Jones, and Henry Aaron in the outfield, Lee Thomas, Woody Woodward, Dennis Menke, and Eddie Matthews in the infield, and Joe Torre catching. Wade Blasingame started, but neither he nor the unknown Cub lasted for long.

Billy Williams hit the first home run I eve saw and it is still one of the most impressive ones I remember: a line drive the first baseman actually leapt for but which cleared the fence in right field never having gone more than about 20 feet the ground. George Altman hit one about four rows short of the club level in right. Henry Aaron homered to tie the game at nine in the ninth, and Hundley won it for the Cubs with one in the tenth. Along the way, Ted Abernathy, the only submarineballer of the time, relieved for the Cubs and Clay Carroll took a turn for our side. Chi Chi Olivo, the fat Brave reliever, hit one to the centerfield fence in the bottom of the ninth before coming out in the tenth and giving up Hundley's game winner.

I have been to a lot of other game since then. Certainly some were more exciting, a very few were more significant, but apparently none were as memorable, at least until last night.

I will probably always remember a few things about the game, but a slate with 38 years of writing on it loses a bit of its legibility: Tomahawks and homer hankies, Avery's pitching (God, he is only 21), Belliard's RBI (it's gotta be da hat), Justice's and Smith's homers (justice atoning for several bonehead plays and Lonnie in the Series with his fourth different team), a won game seemingly snatched away by Chili Davis, four winning runs left in scoring position in the last five innings by the Minnesota Twins, the longer World Series game in 75 years, Lemke's twelfth-inning hit, and Justice touching all the bases. All were special, but none were as memorable to me than spending four hours and four minutes watching a beautiful 11 year old girl on the edge of being a lot older, know knows all the players' names, who knows your're supposed to hit the cut-off man and understands the double switch, have the time of her life. She wasn't tired, she only to school all day, won a tennis match in a tie breaker against a kid who hadn't lost all season, and spend six hours at the ballpark. She wore her tomahawk earrings, she chopped and chanted, chided Hrbek and derided the organist, cheered for Justice, and groaned for Clancey.

What a game. What a kid. All that and tonight I get to take her mother right back to the same place. Two great dates in a row. Life is good..............."

Friday, December 26, 2008

As the end of college football season is rapidly approaching, I have been reflecting on post seasons of my childhood. The post season did not always end in the beginning of January. There was a time when the Atlanta Braves reigned supreme and the post season was over by mid to late October. I am of course referring to the infamous Atlanta Braves. How could one forget the worst to first season of 1991? I was at the ripe age of 11 and quite into the season to say the least. I didn't take on hobbies lightly, a quality I still possess today, and was proud to say that I attended 18 home games that season. I don't really want to discuss the outcome of the series. It is a wrinkle in time (bad literary comparison but still sounds good) that most Atlantans prefer not to remember. But I can recall almost every moment of the series and I know that makes me only one of several.

I was cut from the same cloth that my father was. There is no mistaking that. When I turned 25 years old he deemed that I was old enough to possess my "personal profile" and with that, I was given a legal file containing my most inportant documents. Along with several gold coins (sweet, gold is at an all time high!), my social security card, and my baptismal certificate, some of the most awesome documents I would ever read were bestowed upon me. My dad took me to Game 4 of the 1991 World Series. The first game ever to be played in Atlanta Fulton County Sadium. Up until this point my claim to fame was my Dale Murphy autographed baseball, given to me by my very generous cousin, Frank B (surely he knew what a treasure he was giving up???). But there was an essay that my dad gave me that was authored on October 23, 1991 that I have read multiple times since that date has past and I figure any baseball fan will enjoy. Since this post is already long enough, I will include the essay/short story on my next post. Feel free to comment as I feel it warrants comments, and selfishly, I have never received a comment! Hope you enjoy it as much as I have!!!

Monday, December 22, 2008

I feel like my past few posts have poked fun at Deaner a bit so I am about to call myself out big time here. Every January I have a feeling of impending doom as bowl games wrap up and I am facing seven full months without college football. As we approach September every year I start to plan ahead and speculate about the upcoming season. I make no apologies for my behavior and the smack talk comes naturally to me. Until last year, these intense feelings of excitement for the upcoming football season have been limited to college football only. Professional football has never meant a thing to me until the infamous day when I received an invitation from a college friend to participate in a fantasy football league. I really had no idea how this would come to affect my life for 17 weeks a year. All this fun for $20 a year?!? Count me in until I am 99 years old!

Last year I was a very mediocre fantasy football team owner. I set my schedule every week and made sure that all my positions were filled each week but I never made trades, hardly checked the waiver wire, and was never looking ahead to the future. I should have known how bad things would get when the draft was scheduled on my birthday and I was set to have dinner with my parents at the same time the draft was supposed to start. Most normal people would have preset their draft order and let things fall into place. Our dinner reservations were for 7. My mom and dad, my sister and her fiance, deaner, myself, and my laptop. I just couldn't bring myself to auto draft. I know, an illness in the making.

My first three round draft picks were as follows: Ryan Grant, Willie Parker, and Derek Anderson. I know this probably doesn't mean a lot to most of my readers but I can only say that these 3 players, seemingly my most solid reliable players, have been my worst nightmare. Willie Parker has been the bain of my existence for the past 16 weeks. He has a hurt knee, he's on the bench, nope now he is coming back, psych, he is still out, oops, now his shoulder is hurt. Jesus Christ! Just retire if you are going to be such a baby! And don't think I will ever draft you again! Parker was a bigger bust for me than Marc Bulger was last year, and his name still sends a chill down my spine. Anyways, I experienced several low points this season as my neurotic obsession reached new heights, and I think that my actions warrant a bit of poking fun of myself. At least I KNOW that this is insane.

1. Back in week 3 of the season I was playing a friend of mine from Memphis. The game came down to the Monday Night Matchup. I had to fight sleep to the end of the game but my kicker kicked a field goal with 19 seconds to play in the game and I went ahead of my opponent by 2 points to win the game. I promptly fell asleep.........but only to dream all night long that ESPN had made a scoring mistake, or that I had not seen the field goal correctly, or that somehow my points got taken away and I lost. I was exhausted at work the next day and figured I was slowly losing my mind.

2. Sometime around the middle of the season, the league leader made a severe mistake. Like a little baby, he posted a message to the league that neither of his two quarterbacks could play that week for some reason or another and he was being forced to drop Tony Romo. Who by the way was on a HOT streak. This MAN asked for nobody to pick Romo up because he still needed him and wanted to pick him back up after the week's games. Uhhhhh, I think not. I announced that if he was dropping Romo, he was free game. This started a rather heated debate about how rude I was but I really didn't care. It wasn't until I was setting my alarm clock for 2:55 a.m. on a Tuesday morning to get out of the bed, boot up my laptop, and get to Romo before the other guy did (3 a.m. EST is when Romo would be available for pick-up), that Deaner pointed out that I had clearly lost my mind. Sigh. He was right. I did let the other guy get up in the middle of the night to re-claim his QB but my dreams of snatching out from under someone else were very vivid.

3. The final low came last night as I was watching the Monday Night Game and pulling for Matt Forte. I am in the semi finals this week and if I beat my opponent I advance to the final game. $175 is on the line here! All of my players did terrible this week. I should have beat this guy handily and yet going into the game I was only leading by 5 points. No room to feel comfortable at all! I had Forte left to play and my opponent had Donald Driver. Oh course the Bears had a terrible first half and Forge wasn't running the ball AT ALL. Driver was looking like one of Rogers favorite targets of the evening. Not a good thing. When Deaner shouted to me in the kitchen that Donald Driver had just gotten hurt and was being taken off the field, my immediate response was, "ON A STRETCHER?" Oh no, that is bad. My first thought was that I hoped he was hurt badly enough to have to leave for the rest of the game. That would ensure my win right? Unfortunately for me Driver was back in the game after a few plays. Fortunatly for me, Forte scored and solidified my win. Next week is the championship game. I'm not sure my nerves can take it.

So, only one more week of fantasy football. I can't say I am relieved because despite the stress that it causes me on a day to day basis from September-December, I am really going to miss playing! It gives purpose to my Sunday afternoons in the fall/winter! But the end of the season does promise that I will be less irritable, way less crabby, and might even venture away from the lap top on a Sunday afternoon. A few years ago my father made a statement that I believe is extremely appropriate and applies well to my life. After a UGA loss to Auburn in the last minute of the game in 2005, and a trial schedule start date set for that Monday morning (he's a lawyer, not a criminal), he stated that he was envious of those who did not get into college football, for SURELY their lives were easier than his. I agree wholeheartedly. While I would never give up my love for the game, I am certain that my life would be easier without the anxiety and angst that football brings into my life. But how would I fill those 5 months?? I'm totally sticking with it......

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Sometime during last football season Deaner and I decided that we would have a chili cookoff and invite our parents over to be the judges. We are both extremely competitive and stood firm in our individual belief that we each made the best chili. There is no need to mention who won the competition (me) but we discovered something much more interesting. Don't ask me why but Deaner decided that he was going to chop up no less than a pound of cilantro for his chili. Shortly after he demonstrated his excellent knife skills he started to complain that his sinuses were bothering him. Since there was nothing wrong with him prior to us starting to cook, I did think it was sort of odd. When the congestion and scratchy throat didn't subside for the next 72 hours we chalked it up to him having cold and I never thought about it again. This past Thursday we went out to a new mexican restaurant. Deaner ordered some sort of tacos and it came with a bowl of chopped up cilantro. After complaining about how bland the tacos were, he proceeded to load up each of the three tacos with the cilantro. 20 minutes later he couldn't breathe out of his nose and his throat was scratchy. This has seemingly confirmed what we suspected last year. He does in fact have an allergy to, of all things, cilantro. Who would have ever thought?? Today is Sunday and he is still having issues. Now the funny part begins.....

Deaner is acting as though this new found allergy is going to be the death of him. On the six hour drive up here to Virginia I was telling him about my friend, Christina, who really does have a deadly allergy to peanuts. I told him the story about how in 6th grade someone accidently wiped peanut butter across Christina's forehead at a "Double Dare" birthday party. She had to be picked up and taken to the emergency room. Just from having peanut contact on her skin! Think about if she actually ATE a peanut. You can imagine my surprise when Deaner responded "that sounds a lot like my allergy"..........huh????? You cannot be serious! While I know that he was partially kidding, I realized that he really does this that his new found allergy is serious! I wonder if we are going to have to start inquiring in restaurants if certain dishes are prepared without cilantro?? Maybe we will have to start dining only in "cilantro free" environments!! :)

Luckily enough, I think that Deaner's allergy is going to be just fine. I don't think that we will be making any trips to the emergency room if we do happen upon an accidental ingestion. Just as good that we know about it now. I don't think I can take another 30 minutes in the Food Lion in Danville browsing the immense selection of Food Lion brand decongestants!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Every Christmas Deaner and I go about the task of accommodating both of our family's and making sure that we get to spend time with everyone. This is no small task for us and for the third consecutive year I think we will be split up on Christmas Day. Yesterday we made the trek to Virginia to visit his grandparents and we will be here until Monday. I don't have much to report today since there isn't a whole lot going on in the booming metropolis of Danville, VA! About two hours into the drive Deaner turned to me in the car and asked if we had unplugged the Christmas tree at home before we left. Uhhhhh......of course we did! I mean, I am pretty sure we did........Fine, I really have no idea if we did or not. Look at the brightside, we might not need to worry about selling the condo before we move to Germany! I'm just hoping that all my beautifully wrapped gifts (I am very much a freak when it comes to wrapping gifts) are not going up in flames as we speak. Surely one of us unplugged the tree! Can the fire department really tell exactly where a fire starts?? Anyways, last night we got into town and met Deaner's sister and brother-in-law for a late dinner and large beers. It is always great to see them and I really enjoy their company. Last night we all enjoyed each other's company a little too much! Shouts for Uncle Deaner came very early this morning!

This afternoon we took a trip out to one of Deaner's favorite restaurants in Danville. There is not a whole lot here folks but this burger joint that sits on the edge of town has been around as long as Deaner has. And I am pretty sure it has been that long since any sort of updating has been done. I'm always shocked to walk in and see people smoking cigarettes while they are eating their food!! People are still allowed to smoke in restaurants?? It's no Ritz Carlton but it is worth the trip so that Deaner can eat his pink hotdogs and smushed chili cheeseburger! If you haven't showered for the day, wait until after you dine here!

While on the surface it doesn't seem like there is much to do here, I always enjoy making our rounds of the normal shopping. I picked up the cutest note cards at Tuesday Morning! They also had Container Store wrapping paper in cute bold colors. I got two rolls of lime green paper for $1.49!! I love finding deals! I could spend way too much time browsing in there. The biggest bonus was a semi celebrity sighting on the way home. Danville's biggest claim to fame (forget about that Last Capital of the Confederacy bit....) Johnny Fairplay!! What? You don't know who that is!?! Good! You probably shouldn't! However, Johnny Fairplay is the infamous Survivor contestant that lied about his grandmother dying to advance in the game. He has a nice long list of reality television shows on his resume including my person favorite, Kill Reality. Fairplay likes to lead a quiet inconspicuous life. HA! Last time we saw him he was driving an ORANGE car with the license plate FAIRPLA. Today I happened to glance over into the next lane and saw the FAIRPLA plate looking back me. There must not be a lot of demand for reality television stars around this time of year! It brought back memories of our last Christmas visit when I spotted him in a bar with his pregnant America's Next Top Model girlfriend. I asked him if he might take a picture with me using my camera phone. I know, classy.......Fairplay was happy to oblige...........once I went and found him 5 cigarettes! WHAT?? What a turd! I can hardly admit that I shamelessly went on an expedition, bummed 5 cigarettes, and presented them to J.F. I don't like to be reminded of it when I run across the picture still saved on my phone! Anyways...

Who knows what the night will hold for us tonight!? Hopefully not the bar formerly known as the Gas Light Grill which is housed in the Confort Inn. My clothes will never recover if I subject them to that amount of cigarette smoke a second night in a row! Neither will my head forgive me in the morning after another night of $2 draft beer. :) I'm thinking that we will go high class tonight and upgrade to Buffalo Wild Wing! At least they have a glass divider between the smoking and non-smoking areas! I am just happy that I will be spending time with my future mother-in-law, sister and brother-in-law, and both of my nephews to be. I count myself lucky to be marrying into such a wonderful family.........

Monday, December 15, 2008

What is it with men and their lack of attention to detail? A few nights after Deaner was offered this new position in Germany we went out to dinner and brought along a legal pad to make a list of questions we had. My main questions included things like what sort of health insurance benefits would we have? Is our housing allowance paid to us upfront or do we have to prove our expenses and be reimbursed? Would we have access to military base physicians? How does one even go about obtaining a mortgage in Germany? All very legitimate questions in my opinion and things that we needed the answers to upfront. Deaner had a conference call with the HR coordinator the next day and I left him with the list of questions feeling quite sure I would feel more informed after his phone call. WRONG. Did his mind go blank as soon as he got on the phone call? I did learn that we would keep his Blue Cross Blue Shield but that was about it! I have pretty much had to take matters into my own hands! Lucky for me a good friend of mine is a blogger in NYC and sent me a blog that she said I might enjoy reading. It is written by a girl exactly my age, from the States, in a very similar situation. Her husband is in the military and she has been living in Germany for around three years. I started at the beginning and and kept reading until the present! I learned more reading her blog than Deaner could find out with a direct line to Germany! I e-mailed this author and was surprised to hear back from her in a matter of hours! She has been so helpful and I appreciate all her information greatly! My new found friend has put me in touch with a friend of hers who recently purchased a home in Germany. After contacting her I feel like I am ready to purchase a house before even moving! Don't worry, I won't be that dumb, but this whole "blogging world" has been a wealth of information! While Deaner has been e-mailing me information on Mexican restaurants in our new city, I have been able to inform him about how we will seek shelter when we move! I'm still far from knowing everything that I need to in order to feel comfortable moving but I am a lot closer than when I started!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Unfortunately for Deaner, it was never an option for him that we would be getting married in the Catholic Church. I grew up Catholic and went to Catholic school from kindergarten through 12th grade. For the boy that started off as Baptist and morphed into a Presbyterian, I knew this would be more religious preparation than he cared for. In all fairness, he has been a pretty good sport. We asked the Monsignor in my church to marry us as I had known him since grade school. I thought the world of him so it was the obvious choice. Deaner and I began our marriage preparation on October 20th by meeting with Monsignor on a Monday night. Deaner had never met Monsignor before but was quickly fond of him and even helped him arrange his newest golf trophy that had been delivered to the church that afternoon. At the end of the meeting Monsignor told us that he would probably only need to meet with us one more time before March. SCORE! Everyone knows that this is getting off VERY easily. The entire way home we talked about how great Monsignor was and that we were both very excited for him to marry us. Well, my mom called me 10 days later at work and told me that Monsignor had passed away in his sleep the night before. I was devastated! He was the only person that I had ever imagined marrying me and there was seemingly nothing wrong with him the previous week! It was just very sad to me and I think about Monsignor every day.

So now I had to set about the task of finding another priest. Fortunately for me, the priest who baptized me is currently working at my church which is surprising considering I was baptized 28 years ago! Unfortunately for me, he rejected us! Whaaaaa???? It was his own personal rule that he only married couples that went on the engaged couples weekend retreat. Very understandable except for the fact that there was only one more offered between then and our wedding and it just so happened to be on a weekend that we are having a wedding party. Of course that doesn't work as an excuse! On to the next!

Finally we were recommended to ask a priest that is new to our church. We met with him for the first time last month. We both liked him very much but soon found out that our assignment would be to read a book about sex in the marriage! We were told he would want to meet with us no less than 4 or 5 times between then and March. Oh lord! I guess we could always go on that retreat weekend! :) Anyways, we have stuck with this priest and as Deaner has pointed out, we are probably getting more out of this than we would have with anyone else. I am glad that he has a good attitude about it! I'll remind him that as he is reading chapters 4 & 5 before our January 7th meeting! At least we finally have a priest!

The funniest part of this whole debacle is at the height of having no one to marry us, my sister called me and told me that their rehearsal dinner venue, that took them 2 months to find, that they had put a deposit down that week, BURNED DOWN!! Talk about perspective! I was no longer having the worst week ever! I'm sorry, but you have got to laugh at that!

In other news, it was a pretty uneventful weekend. We had our Catholic Seminar on Saturday which was ALL DAY LONG. It was pretty boring but at least we got it out of the way, and we didn't even have to miss any football! I know, good attitude right?? I know that no one reads this at least! Not looking forward to this week at work but Friday is my last day of work before a week off for Christmas. We are heading to Virginia on Friday after I get off work to visit Deaner's grandparents. I can't wait to see everyone. I'm going to pray for a quick week!

Friday, December 12, 2008

It has never been a secret that I am quite at home in Atlanta and have never had any desire to pack up and leave. My family is here, my friends are here, and I have always imagined raising a family here. I finally convinced Deaner to give up the big house OTP and move ITP last December and city life is good. On the flip side, Deaner has never made it a secret that he would like to live somewhere where life operates at a slower pace. He has often times talked about working abroad for a few years before returning home to settle down (the debate between OTP and ITP has never ceased!). I have never paid much attention to these lofty plans because who actually goes through the trouble of finding a job in another country, packing up their life, and actually going??

We spent 10 days in Germany and Austria this past June on vacation and the ever familiar day dreams started again. When we got engaged in July I figured I had solidified my location. Who could think about moving when a giant wedding is in the works? So when Deaner mentioned that he had been contacted to interview for a position in Germany I thought that surely there was no harm in supporting him. Something would end up being wrong with the position, he probably wouldn't get it, it wouldn't pay enough, or he would chicken out. Deaner interviewed for the position sometime in July and we didn't hear anything for months. Woooo-hooooo! Then he got an e-mail asking if the manager involved with the new position could contact his current boss for a reference. Huh? What kind of employer does that? Unless your candidate is on a very short list and it is likely you will offer them the position. I held my breath for another month. There was a lot of hassle involved with convincing his boss to make the time to return the phone call and things moved slowly. While on a business trip last month his boss joked around with him that when he got the job he deserved a cut for being such a great reference. Still no word. I started to breathe again. Slowly but surely things started to look as though Deaner was in fact not the top choice and that he would not be getting the job. We heard lots of promises that he would be contacted early next week or in a few days. Deaner remained very optimistic stating the whole time that he was pretty sure he was the one. I thought to myself "oh great, this is not going to be a pretty letdown". I felt badly because while I didn't really want to move to Germany, I wanted him to be happy and I knew this was something that he wanted to do. So I did what any normal girl would do in my situation. I started to pretend as though I would have gone along with this move all along and that I was definitely open to moving to Germany. Why not? When he didn't get the job at least he would think I was supporting him all along! And then one day it happened...

I got an e-mail from Deaner that ended in "P.S. I heard about the Germany job". Come on! I knew immediately when I called him at work and he answered laughing about how quickly I had called that he had been offered the position. OH GREAT! Remember how I had been agreeing for weeks that I wanted to do this too?? Now I really had to do it!

That was roughly 3 weeks ago or so. I will still never understand how the government can take so long to make an offer and then expect that someone report to a foreign country within 30 days. We ran into some issues there but thankfully that was settled this week. I flat out refused to move BEFORE we got married and there was no room for negotiation on changing the ceremony. At least we were on the same page about that! So as it stands today, we are getting married March 7th, returning from our honeymoon on the 17th, and leaving for a new life on the 27th! I have no clue how I am going to get things organized between now and then. We own 3 cars, two houses, and have wedding gifts delivered every week. I am thinking that the next three months are going to be pretty busy. I am so proud of Deaner for putting his mind to something and succeeding at it. I am excited about starting the new adventure but only because it is with him. Well, alright, I also REALLY want to quit my job. :) Now I just have to figure out what to do with all this STUFF!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

I met Deaner (he is my fiance but you won't hear me use that word often, it reminds me of the Seinfeld episode "maybe the dingo ate your feee-an-say") on New Year's Eve in 2005. I was living in a real life sorority house in Midtown with three other girls and we had several friends over for cocktails before going out for the night. A girlfriend of mine was dating a guy at that time and Deaner came along with them to our house. After ringing in 2006 together we went out the following week and have been together since. I have had more fun in the past three years and can't imagine my life going any other way. Being a typical girl, I always wondered when I would find that person and have the fairy tale forever after, and I am thankful everyday that it came in the form that it did.

We got engaged on July 25th of this past year. Having just come back from a 10 day trip in Europe together where I was HOPING to get engaged I was not expecting to come home from a day at the office to a proposal. I should have known it was coming but stupidly I did not. When I got home from work on a Friday afternoon there were flowers, wine, and an awkward Deaner getting down on one knee. You always dream of getting engaged and how it will be perfect but gosh, how weird it feels in real life! I was so nervous! Really, I was much more smoothe in my daydreams!

About 5 minutes after the actual proposal Deaner told me that he had to tell me something. Now what in the world could he possibly need to tell me that is so important that he needs to tell me while we are deciding who to call and tell first!?! As it happens, he told me that my sister was getting engaged the same night! What are the chances? Hold on, it gets better, her fiance? The same guy I mentioned above that introduced me to Deaner. We set him up with my sister after things didn't work out with the girl I was friends with. My lucky dad! Two weddings in five months, a son who started college in the fall, and a tanking economy! Seriously though, I am thrilled for my sister and I can't wait to have A as a brother-in-law. My only regret is that I will be half way around the world.............at least I have a built in reason to come home so soon!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The concept of blogging is an odd one to me. Chronicling your life for others to read seems a bit arrogant and assumes that people actually want to read about your life. However, in the past year or two I have begun to follow several blogs rather religiously. Whether they are written by people I know or by people that are complete strangers to me I think I am drawn to them because they are such a detailed account of the events going on in other people's lives. Remeber when your mother forced you to keep a travel journal on your first big trip? You never wanted to but were always glad when you did? Blogging attracts me because it might give me the oppertunity to "journal" about my life while sharing the comedy of errors that it has become as of late. And if I get sick of it...........I can always pretend I never started it in the first place! Who will ever remember??

I am a 28 year old Atlanta native with a ton of stuff going on in my life right now. My life has been relatively uncomplicated up until the past 6 months or so. While there are plenty of details to share, in a nutshell, I got engaged in July of this year to my boyfriend, Deaner, whom I have been dating for almost three years. We have been planning our (my) dream wedding for March 7, 2009. Shortly after we got engaged Deaner mentioned that he had been contacted regarding a job oppertunity that he had applied for "ages ago". Being that the job was in GERMANY we brushed it off as far fetched and agreed he should just see what it was all about. The long and short of it is that he was offered the job a week ago and it appears that we are leaving the country 10 days after we return from our honeymoon! Me, leaving the country. The girl that was homesick for 4 years in college while living 5 hours away in Oxford, Mississippi. The same girl that talks to her mother on the phone at least 5 times a day.

That is life in VERY short summary. Oh, did I mention my sister and I got engaged on the same day this summer? The hilarity of it all is sometimes overwhelming. So, stayed tuned, or not, even if I am writing to myself at least I will be able to go back and remember all the comical things that have happened in my life in 2008...............or like I said before, if I get sick of it, I'll just quit!